British Prime Ministers - Coursework Example

? British Prime Ministers The British prime ministers are influenced by their leading styles and decision making processes. The leadership style entails how leaders relate with those that they lead. This includes the reception of information, and the decision making process for such ideologies and visions important there. This essay discusses how the British Prime Ministers in recent reign used different styles of leadership in strengthening their position, as well as their weaknesses. Each Prime Minister used different leadership style, each of which greatly impacted the decision making process to the main issues and policies (Heffernan 2005, p. 605). Fundamentally, the Prime Minister may be considered free of political influences, hence, influence by the common majority. The five prime Ministers considered here are Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and David Cameron. Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher won three victories in the general election between 1983 and 1987, where she enjoyed the majority of the large commons. She was referred as a mobilizer and innovator. Thatcherism is a term coined from the neo-liberal economic mission and policies that she used in restoring Britain. This extends to include the aggressiveness and militant bearing of the prime minister. The leadership style was personal in nature where the prime minister dominated the cabinet. The aggressive leadership style enabled her to be vigorous and thorough, and not an authoritarian. Despite the endless accusations of Margaret Thatcher leadership, her leadership was the most dominant. Some critics argue that she was dictatorial, and this is considered unfair. Her perfectionism drive instilled the desire control in her. This style of leadership coupled with challenges in delegation is related to issues of gender. The vulnerability as the first female prime minister in UK sharpened her urge to control. Thatcher alleged the masculine leadership style never deterred her from exploitation of her status as a female. The cabinets consisted of exclusively male ministers, and this further emphasizes on the exemplary position held by the Prime Minister. The leadership style by Thatcher was characterized by a high degree of skills in switching between the genders roles, and hence considered an expert gender-bender. Her toughness enabled her confound her male colleagues. When necessary, Thatcher used her feminine charms to enable her get away with the political stratagems and ploys (Nunn 2002, p. 56). She was most concerned with her appearance especially her clothes and hair. She relished and loved her leadership as the British prime minister. John Major John Major was a British conservative and a politician. He served as the British Prime Minister from 1990 t0 1997. Though Major was a more disappointment when compared to Thatcher, he was the most preferred as the successor of Margaret Thatcher. His leadership style stark-contrasted to that of his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher and had a more inclusive cabinet. Some of his successes include signing of agreements with European Unions and bring IRA ceasefire that established the Good Friday Agreement. The accusations on government sleaze and the party divisions dogged his premiership. The 1995 criticisms of his leadership compelled him take the unprecedented step of resigning as the leader of his party. Despite his victory, he remained unpopular where the party failed in uniting behind him (Heppell 2007, p. 471). His moderate political stance and mild-mannered style enhanced his theoretical placement as conciliatory party leader. He did not succeed in uniting the Euro-rebels. It was during his premiership that the economy in Britain recovered from 1990-1992 recessions. The prime Minister maintained low profile after leaving the office (Heppell 2007, p. 473). Tony Blair Tony Blair served as British Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007. He is among the highly respected leaders worldwide. Sources indicate that Blair was self-centered and adopted authoritarian leadership style used by Margaret Thatcher. This drastically crimped creativity and initiative among his ministers. He ignored criticism, where his major team hived off the rest in the party. This enhanced development of bunker mentality that dismissed calls towards change of leadership style. This made him eventually announce his departure. The Blair’s government was also addicted to arbitrary targets, which has unintended consequences. The massive meddling of labor damaged the morale and affected the daily management of public sector. Also, Blair’s succession plans were inadequate, and beyond Gordon, significant talents have been missing (Norton 2007, p. 269). Gordon Brown Gordon Brown became the prime minster after Tony Blair. Initially, Gordon’s reception was promising. When compared to Blair’s his leadership style was completely different. However, his involvement with the Exchequer instilled his seriousness and hard work. The change in leadership accelerated when he moved from 11 to 10 Downing Street. His leadership was criticized for increased hostile press, and his flashy style embodied his lack of vision on key areas. This denied him an opportunity of articulating and discerning his role as a national leader (Honeyman 2009, p. 85). Reports show that Brown might not have been prepared for the highest office due to lack of key leadership capabilities and characteristics. This never implies that he was to fail during elections, but based on the situation in 2007, it was too hard for him to be successful (Honeyman 2009, p. 92). David Cameron Cameron rose to power after the resignation of Gordon Brown in 2010. He intended to form a coalition government with liberal Democrats by putting aside the party differences for the work towards fulfilling the national interests. As a result, he appointed the Liberal Democrats leader, Nick Clegg as his deputy Prime Minister. Gordon Brown seemed to hate his position, and emulating Winston Churchill while David Cameron seemed quite confident. Cameron has formulated various plans although his impact has not been very massive (Evans 2008, p. 295). Cameron refers to himself as “compassionate conservative”, and he spoke of the need for new political style. He considered himself as a Thatcher fan, though his Thatcherite is not yet proven. He claimed to be “liberal Conservative” and not an ideological person. In his leadership, he urged politicians to embark on service to people rather than amassing the wealth. He also considered himself as an heir to Blair, and believes that Muslims in Britain should be fully integrated in British culture. Cameron worked closely with Dylan Jones in his production of the publication ‘Cameron on Cameron’. The Prime Minister supported same-sex marriage. He has also been described as over-relying on the ‘old-boy networks’ in returning Tories to power. His cabinet is composed of people who schooled with him. Also, the Cameron’s government is accused of cronyism, and thus prompting some leaders like former Conservative donor to cut the donations due to disillusionment with Cameron leadership (Evans 2008, p. 314). References List Evans, S. (2008). Consigning Its Past to History? David Cameron and the Conservative Party, Parliamentary Affairs 61 (2). pp. 291-314. Heffernan, R. (2005). Exploring (and Explaining) the British Prime Minister." The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 7(4). pp. 605-620. Heppell, T. (2007). A Crisis of Legitimacy: The Conservative Party Leadership of John Major. Contemporary British History 21(4). pp. 471-490. Honeyman, V. (2009). Gordon Brown and International Policy, Policy Studies 30(1), pp. 85-100. Norton, P. (2007). Tony Blair and the Constitution", British Politics 2(2). pp. 269-281. Nunn, H. (2002). Thatcher, Politics and Fantasy: The Political Culture of Gender and Nation, London: Lawrence and Wishart. Read More